Is anyone else just stuck in debt and fed up?

[Catsarekings123]

I am actually owed a refund of £1500 from something which will be wonderful, but it's just a waiting game and could be another 2 months yet, however I know I will be getting it.

I'm not the worst with money but I'm not the best either. Every month before my wage comes in I calculate everything that's going out that month, and what ill have left.

I live alone. To give a rundown:
Mortgage- £440, boiler cover- £31.50, gas- £35, electric- £35, water not yet been billed as moved in last few months, ongoing orthodontic treatment- £54, petplan and insurance- £43, phone contract and handset- £32, gym- £14, YouTube/netflix- £22, wifi- £24, £300 on clearing debt atm across x2 credit cards and one loan.
Student loan- £30, then it's food, public transport etc.

I know i could cancel the gym but it's working out at around £3.50 a week and benefits me hugely. I don't have any Sky or anything like that and only have netflix so watch a lot of films etc on it.

If anyone sees any areas I could cut back on I'd be willing to take suggestions..I paid £300 alone on my credit card this month but then had an unexpected £190 repair bill.
It's living alone with a mortgage which is stressful as you have to plan for these unexpected emergencies.

I don't get expensive clothes, make up, hair etc. Everything is as cheap as I can make it.
I'm changing jobs next week and will be on 28k base salary and have got an evening job which will be £300 extra a month.
I don't drive, mainly use public transport but occasionally take an Uber, as waiting outside in blistering wind and rain is depressing a lot of the time.
I don't buy expensive food either, do what I can in terms of cheap or free hobbies. Used to do a dance class but now I just do one on YouTube. Will restart running once it warms up next week.

I do have direct debits and even without them I still can't get It down that much. It would go nowhere near covering my usage living alone, and I'm on the cheapest tariff. That's what I don't understand. The minimum monthly bill for my gas and electric is £96 per month. That's as a single person, so how are you managing to do it so cheaply? Who are you with?

Do you shower at the gym?

Hi OP I work part-time for a local plumbing firm and most of our monthly service plans are £6.50 to £10. A one-off annual service is £66 to £90 depending on what sort of boiler you have. We have landlords with multi-property cover that are paying less than you!

We also offer several payment options including interest-free finance on replacement boilers.

I'm not trying to sell you anything, just saying shop around, you can definitely get a better deal than that!

Sorry but I'm not going to give up watching any form of TV/film.. as I said there's saving money and then there's just living miserably.

I'm alone with a cat too and earn next to nothing as hours got slashed (min wage job too)
I switched to Lyca for phone (pay £5.85 a month) and switched from Petplan to Many Pets (£17.25 a month)

Even prisoners get to watch TV.

Must have had a crap one then.

@LlamaDharma go out where? It's cold, and wet here
Where can she go out to entertain herself for a full month for the cost of Netflix? Sure you can go for a walk or to a friends or to the library but that's not a full month of cheap entertainment. It's probably the best value thing for something to "do" in winter

I also read and listen to the radio but after work sometimes I just want to do nothing and zone out with a TV programme

I don't really have any friends i can just walk to sadly, and people don't seem to want to come here

What's costing more in interest - the loan or the cc? I'd probably transfer the cc to a 0% and pay that off before the 0% period expires. Pay off the overdraft and loan (assuming no early repayment fees) with the refund.

Not watching netflix does not equate living in misery for goodness sake. That's quite insulting to people living in real poverty. There are other things that give fulfilment in life. That last reply suggests you're not prepared to make realistic sacrifices to save money anyway. Crack on with your netflix. I'm sure it will help in the long run.

In our last house, our Worcester Bosch oil boiler died when it was only about 10 years old. We had a maintenance contract (which didn't cost much more than an annual service) and basically got a new boiler for free. So a good maintenance contract is worth having IME.

Surprisingly people don't actually melt if they go outside when it's cold or wet. Life actually continues. Why are you asking me what other people should do to entertain themselves fir a whole month anyway?

Our boiler cover saved us a £700 boil once. Yeast the cover adds up to more but if you have got the ‘ready money’ it is difficult, current one went nuts a year or so ago and it was covered completely. Something to do with an expansion something…no idea. I just nodded as the very attractive muscly bloke did bloke things to fix it.

I have been in debt before and the feeling of being out of it is such a relief, I actually have savings now, can afford clothes and holidays. I still think I’m skint though so I’m frugal.

Get a £10 tv from a charity shop.

What was the £1500 loan for last month?

It's unhelpful to have absolutely nothing in your life. The climate in this country is awful. OP needs something. Don't think saving 6 quid will have too much of an impact.

Do you enjoy being unpleasant?

To be fair, it was pretty crap. I hope that my new one lasts better.

Have I understood this right - so you're paying £28/month for pet health club? That's £336/year!😯Annual vaccinations/health check is €52 per cat at my vets (I'm in France). I buy wormers and tick/flea treatment in bulk online and I've never had to have any of my cats claws trimmed.

There are things you can do to reduce those monthly outgoings

> boiler cover- £31.50
Scrap that one immediately!
Put £20/month aside into an interest bearing account
Every year when you get the boiler serviced go with a local engineer, NOT British Gas, it will be ~£100
After five or six years you'll have enough to pay for a new boiler when it's needed
Which magazine has one bit of advice for people paying monthly boiler cover
IT'S A SCAM, STOP PAYING IT

> petplan and insurance- £43
What pet do you have - $43/month is over £500/year which is excessive

> phone contract and handset- £32
See if you can buy out the phone, and switch to Lebara (£5/month for unlimited calls and texts plus 4GB data)

> gym- £14
Scrap that for a few months until you've cleared your other debts - job, run up and down stairs at home if you have them, do weights with tins of soup or bottles of water

> YouTube/netflix- £22
Scrap those. Utterly unnecessary until you're financially sorted

> wifi- £24
That's a good price - use your devices to view free things instead of paying for Netflix or Youtube

> Student loan- £30
You should only be paying that if your income is above £25,000 and lots of things (e.g. pension payments) are taken into account first

@LlamaDharma because you said you would go out more

I'm asking for ideas where that costs less than Netflix does a month and also gives you a full month of stuff to do

I know people don't melt but in 2024 being at home with nothing except a radio is fucking miserable when it's minus temps outside and throwing it down

Can’t believe people think you should rehome your cat and get rid of your tv just to pay debt off a bit quicker.
“you’re poor! You deserve to be bored and lonely!!”

Opt for a cheaper Netflix plan. I pay £5:99 per month for Netflix with ads.

If you do decide to cancel Netflix then consider making use of your library.

My local library has box sets to borrow. Music to borrow. They even have a streaming service for weird and wonderful films! It used to anyway.

If you work in one LA and live in another you can join both library groups probably.

I also get magazines and comics online (I reckon the library saves me hundreds every year)

You might have access to "universal class"

You might have access to BFI replay (tv and video archives) though have to be at the library to use that.

It's a great way to save money and of course using the library helps protect it by boosting user numbers.

I agree. I'm not a pet owner but know people who have had their cat hit by car was a huge vets bill - it survived to old age tho
and apologies in advance if this doesn't apply to cats - neighbour's dog on a country walk was killed outright by a speeding vehicle. The dog was deemed to have caused the accident and they were sued by the driver's insurance, luckily pet insurance covered it.